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Griffith
Hawk of Darkness Hawk of Light White Hawk King of Longing The Absolute King of Midland The Savior of Men |manga debut= Episode L0 Golden Age 4 |anime debut= (1997 Anime) Episode 2 Band of the Hawk (2016 Anime) Episode 1 The Dragonslayer |movies debut= Golden Age Arc I Egg of the Supreme Ruler |japanese voice= Takahiro Sakurai (2016 Anime, Movies (Adult), Berserk Musou) Ayako Takeuchi (Movies (Child)) (1997 Anime (Adult), Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō) Minami Takayama (1997 Anime (Child)) |english voice= Kevin T. Collins (1997 Anime/Movies (Adult)) (Movies (Child)) (1997 Anime (Child)) |gender= Male |eyes= Blue |hair= White |species= God Hand Human (formerly) |status= Alive |affiliation= Neo Band of the Hawk Falconia God Hand |previous affiliation= Band of the Hawk Midland |occupation= Ruler of Falconia Leader of the Neo Band of the Hawk Member of the God Hand |previous occupation=Leader of the Band of the Hawk White Phoenix General (Revoked) Mercenary |relatives= Demon Child (host body) |image gallery= yes |height = 6'1" |weight = 165lbs |age = 17 (Beginning of the Golden Age Arc) 20 (End of Golden Age Arc) 22+ (Black Swordsman Arc & beyond) }} Griffith is the current leader of Midland's regular army, the Neo Band of the Hawk, and of the recently erected city of Falconia. As the messianic Hawk of Light, he has been at the fore of many battles, having amassed a reputation as a savior across the continent. Following the Eclipse, Griffith became the God Hand member Femto—a demonic, idealized version of himself stripped of his humanity and emotions. As the leader of the previous Band of the Hawk, he and his Hawks were able end the Hundred Year War and bring peace to the war-torn country of Midland. He eventually comes to blows with his comrade Guts, however, resulting in a downward spiral of events leading directly to the Eclipse, where he is inducted into the God Hand as their fifth member Femto. In time, he is once again incarnated in the physical realm, now concerned solely with the realization of his dream. Upon returning, he has defended the city of Vritannis from Kushan invasion, defeated the apostle Emperor Ganishka, and brought into existence his city of Falconia—an affluent safe haven for humanity in light of the World Transformation. History Early Years A child of humble birth, in his youth, Griffith is stricken with poverty, to the point where he at times can't even afford a slice of bread. In the cobblestone streets of alleyways, he plays with his fellow street urchins, procuring junk trinkets and calling them victories. Griffith's ambition proves to be higher than that of the other children, however; in the afternoons, with the sunlight blocked out by towering brothels and pubs, he gazes up at the sun-coated castle of the city he resides in. It is in these streets where Griffith decides that the acquisition of his own kingdom will be his real victory. He eventually receives his Crimson Behelit in these same streets from an old, gypsy fortune teller, who foretells his conquest of the world. In his adolescence, he forms the Band of the Hawk, including the miner Pippin, former bandit Corkus, and tumbler Judeau. While still collecting war funds for his small group, Griffith comes across a distressed 12-year-old Casca struggling to free herself from the clutches of a lustful nobleman. He interrupts the confrontation and slices the assailant's ear off, displeased with the latter's elitist nobility. Rather than kill the would-be rapist himself, he throws Casca his sword and instructs her to wield it if she has something to protect. With the nobleman's death and Casca's newfound devotion, Griffith tells her she is free to do as she pleases, with the girl promptly joining his ranks afterwards. The Band of the Hawk's big break comes when they find themselves under the employ of the wealthy Chuder feudal lord Gennon. Realizing that the perverted nobleman fancies him, and that Gennon poses a faster, safer route to amassing and funding an army, Griffith sells his body to the man in exchange for a substantial fortune to give his men a better chance of survival. Golden Age Arc Meeting Guts Years later, the Band of the Hawk finds itself contracted with the defense of a military garrison from a series of mercenary attacks. For three months, the Hawks are able to hold out in the fort, but with the defeat of Bazuso at the hands a young mercenary named Guts, and the subsequent blow to the garrison soldiers' morale, the Hawks relinquish control of the fort to the enemy and abandon their post. A day later, the Hawks catch sight of Guts walking on a trail near their encampment, a few of which decide to pursue him in hopes of taking his recently acquired reward. One after another, they fall victim to Guts' dominance. Eventually, Casca, too, finds herself at the mercy of the mercenary; with his then closest confidant in danger, Griffith finally dons his armor and arrives to the scene, intercepting Guts' attack with a spear. He attempts to reason with Guts, but to no avail, left only with the option of dismantling and incapacitating the swordsman. With his interest piqued, Griffith has Guts taken to the Hawks' nearby encampment and orders Casca to lie with the injured mercenary to provide him with warmth. When Guts finally awakens, Griffith attempts to enlist him, an offer which Guts firmly refuses. Lustful for vengeance, Guts gives Griffith a choice: if he can defeat Guts in sword combat, he can claim ownership of the mercenary; if he loses, however, he'll be granted a wound similar to that which he dealt Guts days before. Not one to avoid the forceful acquisition of things he desires, Griffith agrees to Guts' terms and engages him in combat. Ultimately outmaneuvering his opponent, Griffith dislocates Guts' arm and claims the swordsman for himself as a newly enlisted member of his mercenary band. Ascension Three years later, after the Band of the Hawk successfully defends Midland against the Black Ram Iron Lance heavy cavalry's attack, they are enlisted by the kingdom full-time in its war against Chuder. As a reward for his valiant defensive efforts, Griffith is knighted by the King of Midland and granted the title of viscount, at long last obtaining rank and standing amongst the Midland aristocracy, and taking one step closer to realizing his dream. In the midst of seizing a Chuder stronghold, Griffith is informed of a powerful enemy leader holding back the final push into the inner citadel. He and his forces venture towards the fortress to inspect the situation, narrowly arriving in time to free Guts from the clutches of the apostle Nosferatu Zodd. Ordering his men to fall back as Zodd slaughters the Hawks for their interference, Griffith slyly makes his way to Guts to carry him to safety. However, Zodd blocks their path and the two are forced to execute a pincer strike on him, with Griffith successfully severing the beast's arm. An enraged Zodd retaliates by tail whipping Griffith into a nearby pillar, knocking the White Hawk unconscious. As the demon goes in for the kill, he spots Griffith's dangling Behelit, shocked to see that someone such as Griffith possesses the "Egg of the King". As a result, Zodd stays his hand and departs, leaving Guts with a cryptic prophecy warning of an inescapable doom that will follow should Griffith's dream ever collapse. Taken back to Windham to have his wounds tended to, having made allies and enemies alike within the Midland aristocracy, Griffith recuperates and visits Guts on a castle terrace where the latter is training. He begins to muse over their encounter with Zodd, using it as evidence of things beyond human understanding. Following Griffith's reflection, Guts asks why he would risk his life on a mere soldier's behalf, and, amused by the question, Griffith responds with one of his own, asking if he's truly obliged to provide a reason every time he risks his life for Guts. Thereafter, they are met by the King of Midland and his brother Julius, leader of the White Dragon Knights. Griffith is soon after introduced to the king's timid daughter, Princess Charlotte, catching her as she trips walking down the terrace steps. Upon breaking her fall, Griffith is slapped by Julius for making contact with the princess, to which Griffith apologizes for his actions with utmost disingenuity. Quarrel with Julius During the Autumn Hunt, in which the Hawks act as the king's guard, Griffith discusses with Charlotte the depravity of men and teaches her how to use a leaf as a reed. A wild boar then springs out from the nearby foliage, startling Charlotte's horse as she and Griffith are separated from the hunting party. Upon saving Charlotte and calming her horse, Griffith is shot with a crossbow from the distant undergrowth. His Behelit, however, shields him from what he realizes to be a poisoned arrow. Noticing the lethality and costliness of the employed poison, Griffith concludes it to be the doing of Julius, keenly watching as the knight departs in the distance. After some intel gathering to confirm Julius as the culprit, Griffith commissions Guts to discretely assassinate his aggressor, before leaving for Promrose Hall to attend Charlotte's dinner party. Outside of the party, he discusses his ideals and interpretation of a true friend with the princess, before their conversation is cut short by the alert of Julius and Adonis' assassination, assumed to be committed by Chuder spies, much to Griffith's delight. Griffith is later encountered by Minister Foss, who in an attempt to ascertain what Griffith knows, insinuates a ploy to assassinate the Hawk; the minister's intel gathering ends in vain, however, with Griffith ultimately seeing through the ruse and showing no malice towards the allusion. Before his deployment to battle, Charlotte gifts him with a male lodestone in hopes of her female counterpart returning him safely from the impending engagement. Battle for Doldrey The Band of the Hawk soon sets out to combat the Blue Whale Knights of Chuder. In the closing moments of the skirmish, Griffith is notified of Guts and Casca's fall from a cliff edge. Noblemen on the field caution him not to send soldiers provided by the king in search of merely two Hawks. In spite of their advice, Griffith sends a party, arguing that Guts and Casca are key members of the Band of the Hawk he does not intend to lose. In a war council meeting following the Hawks' victory, military officials, including Griffith himself, attempt to formulate a strategy for reclaiming the stronghold of Doldrey, overseen by Gennon in light of Chuder's civil war. One after another, the officials shoot down ideas, until Griffith's opinion is asked for; he succinctly states he would reclaim the stronghold if ordered to by the king, much to the surprise of the other officials. In the midst of their bickering, the king asks Griffith if his claim was sincere, reminding him that even Midland's strongest force, the White Tiger Knights, couldn't achieve such a feat. Griffith reassures the king that a large force is unnecessary, as he only requires the Band of the Hawk. Convinced by Griffith's confidence, the king orders the Hawks to recapture Doldrey. Griffith assembles his Hawks in the dust field of Doldrey, splitting his forces into two: one group accompanying him and Guts to lure the Purple Rhino Knights and various other Chuder armies towards the river, and the other an infiltration force led by Casca to retake Doldrey itself. In the heat of the battle, Griffith catches sight of Guts' duel with Boscogn, slowly filling with trepidation as Guts gradually loses his edge in the fight. Just as Guts' chances of survival dwindle, a replacement sword suddenly lands before him. A slightly panicked Griffith instructs Guts to take up the sword, subsequently witnessing the beheading of Boscogn. Shortly after, the Purple Rhino Knights look to their rear to see a recaptured Doldrey, now under the Hawks' hold. Having dealt a huge blow to the enemy's morale, Griffith orders his Hawks to slaughter all who provide further opposition. As remnants of Chuder's forces scatter and the battle ends, Griffith approaches a trampled Governor Gennon, who had entered the fray earlier in hopes of seizing Griffith for himself. As Gennon begs for another night of pleasure with the Hawk, Griffith informs the governor that he bears no feelings whatsoever for him, as he was merely a method of ascension. He then proceeds to pierce Gennon in the skull, so as to not inconvenience himself with the potential spreading of petty rumors. Triumphant Return The Band of the Hawk receives a profusion of praise from Midland citizens and officials alike upon their victorious return, and a victory ball is held in celebration. Before attending the party, however, Griffith concocts a scheme to do away with his political enemies, abducting Foss's daughter in order to gain the minister's compliance, and sending an order for Foss to gather all court members bearing ill will towards him in one place. Cognizant of the Queen of Midland's plan to poison his drink, he has his goblet spiked with a specific nostrum to temporarily fake his death, so as to give his enemies a false sense of success. At the ball, the king proclaims the Hundred Year War's end, rewarding the Band of the Hawk with the title of White Phoenix Knights and bestowing the title of White Phoenix General to Griffith. With the initiation of a toast, Griffith sips from his goblet and falls to the ground. Once the nostrum's effects wear off, Griffith locks his political enemies in the tower they have gathered in to celebrate his apparent demise and has it set alight. The queen approaches the window of the tower room and, to her dismay, sees Griffith standing before the tower as flames engulf it. Griffith reminds his enemies that they are still at war and that the battlefield offers no spectator seats, before leaving to rendezvous with Foss nearby. Foss, curious as to how Griffith knew of the ploy, asks why he was chosen to help in the scheme. Griffith reminisces over the first time they met, informing Foss that the fear in his eyes that day gave away his malicious intent. With the issue resolved, Griffith returns Foss's daughter to him, expressing hope for friendlier relations between them in the future. After paying off the girl's abductors, Griffith has Guts tie up the remaining loose ends in his scheme by murdering the criminals. Before returning to his comrades, he begins to question whether he himself is cruel. Guts reminds him that schemes such as his most recent one are merely a part of achieving his dream, to which Griffith agrees. Morning of Departure One month later, Griffith is notified of Gut's withdrawal from the Band. He intercepts Guts and resolves to duel the swordsman for his freedom, as he did three years prior. As the two ready their stances, for the first time in years, Griffith displays a lack of composure. He lunges after Guts, having decided that if he can't have Guts then no one else will. However, his parry technique is countered and his blade broken into two. Griffith is then left to lament his loss as Guts decisively leaves the Hawks. Demise of a Dream Defeated and distraught, Griffith seeks out Charlotte on the night of Guts' departure. He seduces and beds her, leaving the morning after. Consequently, outside of the palace, Griffith is arrested by Midland guards on the grounds of treason. He is taken to a torture chamber within the Tower of Rebirth, where he is whipped repeatedly by the king, who berates him for betraying his trust and defiling the royal house. Griffith worsens the matter by deducing the king's lust for his own daughter, as well as claiming that his reign has been nothing more than a miserable stagnancy. Infuriated, the king orders the year-long torture of Griffith, specifically demanding the Hawk's prolonged suffering. Fallen Hawk During his year-long imprisonment, Griffith is subjected to a myriad of torture methods, ranging from elinguation and tendon laceration to flaying and scalding. During the brief moments in which he is left alone between torture sessions, Griffith lies in the darkness, with only the thoughts of his dream and Guts keeping him alive. He is also confronted by visions of demonic figures—who refer to him as prince and claim to be his kinsmen—seeking an audience with him at the proper place and time. A year later, a rescue team consisting of Guts, Casca, Judeau and Pippin, with the assistance of Charlotte, arrive to break Griffith out of the tower. Griffith wakes to the sight of a grief stricken Guts. Without hesitation, he feebly attempts to strangle his former comrade before ceasing upon seeing the regret in Guts' eyes. After the jailer divulges the grisly specifics of Griffith's torture and is murdered by Guts, the group fights its way through a wave of Midland soldiers before escaping underground. In the sewers of Windham, they are attacked by a group of assassins from the Bakiraka; after dispatching four of the assassins and escaping the capital city through the sewers, the Hawks retreat to a nearby farm. The party soon leaves the farm and sets out for the Midland border, only to realize they they are being tailed by the Black Dog Knights. One trap after another, the Dogs continue to pursue until the Hawks finally decide to confront them. As the battle ensues and Guts begins to overpower their leader, Wyald, an incapacitated Griffith can only watch from the sidelines, unable to even grasp a sword. When it seems Guts has finally triumphed over Wyald, the beast rises once more and grabs Griffith, unclothing the invalid man and exposing the extent of his injuries; he insists that the Hawks' hopes of former glory under Griffith's leadership are futile, and henceforth demands that Griffith summon the God Hand. To his dismay, however, he sees that Griffith is no longer in possession of the Crimson Behelit. As a result, Wyald decides to kill the man, but Zodd intervenes and tears the dog in two, telling Griffith that his Behelit will soon return to him before flying off. Having reached the Midland border, the Band of the Hawk finally comes to terms with Griffith's injuries, accepting that he will never fight again. When Casca arrives to Griffith's carriage to change his bandages, Griffith embraces her, but is met only with her resistance initially; though, she eventually hugs him out of pity. Soon thereafter, Griffith witnesses a tender moment between Guts and Casca, with Casca telling Guts to leave once again if he's truly Griffith's friend. Eclipse Beckoned by a vision of his former self to continue on, Griffith musters the strength to commandeer the unattended horse carriage in pursuit of the castle from his dreams. The cart eventually crashes into a lake, sending him soaring into the air; in this brief moment of flight, he has another vision of a would-be life with Casca before coming to his senses and landing in the water below. Stripped of all most dear to him, he attempts to puncture his throat on a sharp, protruding tree root to little avail, lashing only a minor gash on his neck. As Griffith sits facing the water, unable to commit, his Behelit surfaces from the lakebed. The blood leaking from his neck slowly runs down his arm and comes into contact with the Behelit, causing it to animate. The Hawks tailing him draw near, just as a solar eclipse begins and demonic figures approach. Unable to voice caution, Griffith and his comrades are then suddenly transported to another dimension. As Griffith is assisted up by Guts, the demons reveal that they are at the site of the Eclipse. From the depths of the dimension emerge the four members of the God Hand, and the tallest of which welcomes the Hawks to the "festival", revealing that Griffith's ascension into their ranks has been preordained by causality; it is then disclosed that Griffith's aforementioned rebirth as a demon of the God Hand will require a sacrifice, nevertheless —one ultimately willed by Griffith himself. He is then taken to the deepest recesses of his conscious self, where he is reminded of his dream and the lengths he once went to realize it. Upon viewing the mound of corpses metaphorically responsible for his rise, he concludes that ceasing the piling of them now would only mean the inane demise of his dream. Coming to terms with who he truly is and concluding that Guts' was the only one who made him forget his dream, Griffith accepts the consequences of his choice and utters the words "I sacrifice", resulting in the branding of all his comrades. A unilateral slaughter is then initiated, with nearly all of the Hawks being gratuitously murdered as sacrifices for Griffith's ascension. Griffith meanwhile becomes incorporeal, metaphysically descending into the depths of the Abyss where he comes to understand human nature and causality, along with the ultimate destiny he is to play in the designs of the supreme being that the God Hand serve. After all but Guts and Casca are dead, Griffith, now christened by Void as Femto, emerges in his new form as the fifth member of the God Hand. He immediately descends down towards an ensnared Guts and motions a demon to bring Casca to him. With no hesitation, Femto proceeds to sexually violate Casca in front of Guts, intent on forcing the latter to watch. As he finishes with Casca, Skull Knight encroaches on the Eclipse. Femto uses his newfound powers to form a gravity well of demons around the intruder, but with little success, as Skull Knight is able to escape the Eclipse with Guts and Casca in tow. Despite the turn of events, the God Hand hail Femto's birth and conclude the Eclipse by ushering in the age of darkness —"an age when every darkness shall eclipse light". Black Swordsman Arc With his rebirth as Femto, Griffith is unable to return to the physical realm and only appears within interstices. When an apostle dubbed "the Count" is fatally wounded by Guts, the God Hand are summoned by the cry of the Count's Behelit. Enraged at the mere sight of his former comrade, Guts attacks Femto, but is instantly repelled by Femto's gravity-manipulating powers. With Guts heavily incapacitated, Femto informs the Count that he need only sacrifice his daughter, Theresia, to attain new life. The Count is unable to perform the sacrifice, however, and is dragged into the Abyss for eternity. In a last ditch effort, Guts uses his newly-acquired Cannon Arm to once again attack Femto, that attack too being repelled by the demon. With the Count's demise, the temporal junction point is brought to an end, and the God Hand consequently disappears. Conviction Arc Soon after siring an egg-shaped apostle to carry out a special task, the God Hand begin to orchestrate a series of events, ranging from a plague to the Kushan invasion of the Midland by Emperor Ganishka, all while the maddened King of Midland spends his final hours in search of Griffith. The God Hand impart inside the Midland masses a dream, one prophesizing the coming of a savior exalted as the "Hawk of Light". Unbeknownst to the Midland refugees, they are being lead to the Tower of Conviction in the ruined city of St. Albion to serve in a mass sacrifice, known as the Incarnation Ceremony, that will reconstitute Femto in corporeal form as Griffith. As the Hawk of Light, Griffith also appears to Nosferatu Zodd in a vision, metaphysically wounding the apostle into servitude and instructing him to come to St. Albion. Prior to the ceremony's initiation, the egg-shaped apostle swallows a dying Demon Child while climbing up the crumbling Tower of Conviction, where he enacts the Incarnation Ceremony. Atop the tower, the apostle summons the restless spirits of the St. Albion dead to him, the Demon Child's fetal form concurrently developing into that of a human infant before rapidly maturing into a physical vessel for Griffith's essence. With the completion of his reincarnation, Griffith then emerges from the egg-shaped apostle's body, subsequently killing the demon as the tower is destroyed completely, and making his presence known to all as he bathes in the daybreak sunlight. He is then escorted away by Zodd, to avoid the assault of the Kushan soldiers sent to capture him. Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc Reunion on the Hill of Swords After his Incarnation Ceremony, Griffith reunites with Rickert and Guts on the Hill of Swords, where he proclaims that, even in the ocean of his sacrificed comrades' grave markers, he feels nothing. A triggered Guts lunges out at Griffith, but is deflected by Zodd, leading to a fierce battle between the two. Thought to have long been frozen, Griffith experiences the faint throbbing of his heart, deducing the feelings to be those of the Demon Child fused into his vessel. Guts and Zodd's clash results in the destruction of Godo's mine, just as Casca comes running to the scene. As the airborne boulders from Zodd's destructive resurgence come flying Casca's way, Griffith without hesitation clothes her in his cape, protecting her from the falling debris. Immediately afterwards, Griffith orders Zodd to cease his battle and sets off with the beast to bring his dream to fruition. Before leaving, Griffith informs Rickert and Guts that nothing has changed, telling the former that he is welcome to once again pursue the aforementioned dream, and the latter that he of all people should know what kind of person Griffith has always been. Liberating Midland Griffith sets out for a Midland fortress under siege by a Kushan unit. Appearing in the fortress atop a horse, as if from thin air, Griffith approaches the unit's general and kills him with a pierce to his eye. A retaliatory volley of arrows are fired by the Kushan soldiers in Griffith's direction, but are done so in vain, as they all happen to miss their mark. Before a second volley can be fired, Zodd arrives and devastates the unit with a head-on trail of slaughter. The thrust of a stray lance mows down another group of Kushan soldiers, wielded by the Moonlight Knight Locus. The knight reveals that he was sent by the guidance of an oracle, and asks to join Griffith's ranks, to which the latter accedes. As full-scale devastation of the Kushan unit proceeds, Griffith is attacked by two hulk-like Kushans from behind. They are repelled, however, by an exiled Bakiraka named Raksas. The exile offers his assistance to Griffith, claiming he will let no harm befall the man, in order to decapitate the Hawk himself some day. Suddenly, a naga-armored knight barges through the fortress' gate, and with his scale-covered flamethrower and great hammer, single-handedly plows through a division of Kushan soldiers. Griffith's four troops soon dispatch the entire unit, and kneel to him in allegiance. Defending Vritannis Having liberated areas in Midland under Kushan occupation and saved Princess Charlotte from the clutches of the Kushan emperor Ganishka, Griffith sets his sights on Vritannis. The Kushan Imperial Army mounts an attack on the city, with the Holy See defense finding itself drastically overwhelmed. The Neo Band of the Hawk joins the fray just as all seems lost, handily stifling the siege and downsizing the Kushan army. Griffith makes his way into Ganishka's mobile palace, where he overwhelms and subdues the emperor, forcing Ganishka to withdraw his forces. Meeting with the Vritannis nobility after the battle, Griffith and Charlotte formally announce their engagement, with the latter also proclaiming the former's role as Supreme Commander of the Midland Regular Army. Federico de Vandimion refutes Midland's claim of hegemony, positing that an alliance between Midland and Vritannis in the pontiff's name would be of greater good. The pontiff himself thereupon arrives, verifying Griffith's role as the prophesized Hawk of Light and pledging allegiance to him. End of Worldly Reason Forced to withdraw from Vritannis after being overwhelmed by Griffith, a vexed Ganishka lowers himself into a Man-Made Behelit in order to transcend apostlehood. In his mist form, he sacrifices all monsters and Kushan present in his demon city of Windham. Consequently, Ganishka is twice reincarnated as an immense, monstrous embodiment of darkness. Griffith has his forces fight off the emperor's familiars as he rides Zodd to Ganishka's core. As he draws near Ganshika, Femto reverts to his demon form just as Skull Knight attempts to strike him down from behind with the Sword of Actuation. However, Femto reveals that he was waiting for Skull Knight's appearance and distorts space to redirect the dimensional-cleaving slash at Ganshika. This causes a chain reaction with Ganshika's god form that results in the World Transformation, the entire world entering a global interstice. Femto, having resurged as Griffith, uses this event to create atop the ruins of Windham the city of Falconia. Fantasia Arc When learning of Rickert's arrival to Falconia, Griffith welcomes the youth to his palace, asking once more if Rickert shares his dream. Rickert—torn between the miracles and atrocities brought forth by his former commander—slaps Griffith for asking him again. While Rickert can never truly bear hate for his former commander, he tells Griffith he is a follower of the White Hawk he once knew and of the original Band of the Hawk. Griffith stops his guards, allowing Rickert to leave the palace while reassuring those present that it was a simple rejection. Personality Griffith has always carried himself in a well-mannered, exemplary fashion, well-nigh indistinguishable from that of nobility; his mannerisms, coupled with his keen intellect, often leave people astounded at his humble origins. His most notable trait, however, is his otherworldly charisma. Leadership has always come naturally to him. Those who choose to follow Griffith typically are overcome with emotions upon their first encounter with him, either entranced by the thought of splendor and grandeur at his side, or reeled in by his strong sense of ambition and conviction. Even as a child, Griffith's strong sense of self and ambition were apparent. It is in the back alleys of his childhood city that he first sets his sights on acquiring his own kingdom. He has a multi-faceted demeanor in the earlier years of the Band, at times appearing carefree, and almost child-like, while other times demonstrating ferocious killing intent and deadliness. This juxtaposition of undeniable distinction and common-born idiosyncrasies is what attracts people of varying walks of life to his mercenary band. In spite of his large following, in his earlier years, Griffith's ego is never noticeably inflated; after one of the Band of the Hawk's earlier skirmishes, he takes the time to lament the death of a ten-year-old Hawk-in-training, remembering the boy's name and even expressing regret over compelling the boy to join his cause. The deaths of those fighting for his dream take a toll on him, however. In order to cope with their loses and ensure they aren't in vain, Griffith slowly begins to rely on cold logic and reasoning, placing higher precedence on success than compassion—paradoxically expressing compassion for his comrades by suppressing it. It is not long before he is completely apathetic to his comrades' deaths. Even then, he still possesses his humanity, and questions his immoral schemes, at one point inquiring of Guts if he is a cruel person. The high esteem to which he is held does eventually have an effect on his ego, however. Despite the affection he displays towards some comrades, Griffith comes to believe that they are beneath him, nonetheless, considering them nothing more than tools for achieving his dream, with none of them fitting his criteria of a true friend. Among the tens of thousands of allies and enemies he encounters, Guts is the only one who manages to stifle Griffith's calculated decision making and make him forget about his dream. He explicitly displays care for Guts, on several occasions risking his life to save the swordsman and even losing his composure upon Guts' endangerment. It is because of this that his ego crumbles after Guts' departure; so accustomed to seizing all of his desires, Griffith forgoes all logical reasoning upon losing his most treasured soldier, throwing away everything he has obtained and endangering the Band of the Hawk because of merely one loss. When he invokes the Eclipse and is presented with a reflection of his true self, he comes to terms with who he truly is—a slave to the god named dream, first and foremost—and the consequences of achieving his dream, subsequently sacrificing his comrades and his humanity out of his own free will. Griffith's rebirth as Femto brings about the crystallization of his ambition, now undeterred by moral inhibitions and focused solely on the realization of his dream, fully aware of the nature of humanity and the role he is destined to play as its ultimate judge. Having abandoned his humanity during the Eclipse, Femto is emotionless, only ever showing subtle expressions while feigning humanity under the guise of Griffith. He has stated that, save for the residual feelings of his Demon Child vessel, he personally feels nothing—with his heart now frozen as a member of the God Hand. His efforts to appear human frequently fail, however, as Midlanders have often times stated that Griffith now possesses an untouchable, inhuman presence. Regardless, Femto is still, in essence, pre-Eclipse Griffith, devoid only of his humanity and emotions, still bearing his ambition, ego, and memories. Abilities Swordsmanship Griffith has always been an expert in the field of swordsmanship. With his precision piercing, he has swiftly dispatched enemies with one stab from his sword, capable of easily puncturing vitals if he so chooses. To combat denser, larger swords, he uses a skillful parrying technique, which involves using the opponent's sword weight against them, deflecting the larger blade down the side of his lithe sabre and creating openings for offensive strikes. Griffith's cutting power is also considerable; he is able to completely sever Nosferatu Zodd's arm in a pincer strike with Guts, making him one of the few humans, at that time, to inflict heavy damage on the apostle. Charisma Even prior to his rebirth, Griffith is a magnetic figure who easily reels in admiration and devotion. His angelic beauty in conjunction with his allure and persuasiveness make his presence undeniable and his ambitious dream ever so captivating. The range of his charm is only enhanced by his legendary success, with people of all walks of life admiring his high climb from nothing. Amongst even the Midland nobility, Griffith operates as efficiently as he does in battle, his illustriousness winning over the affection of nobles and commoners alike. Griffith's reincarnation brings about the tenfold increase in his already staggering charisma. With his return to the physical realm, the idolization he once garnered warps into exaltation, his presence now rightly described as inhuman by affected devotees. Inducing submission into others has become an effortless task for him; even highly revered individuals collapse to their knees upon their first encounter with him. Most telling of his newfound influence is the alliance he has formed between demonkind and humanity, leading both the sinful black and blind white sheep, in accordance with the prophecy of the Holy See's scriptures. Divinity After his transcendence into Femto, Griffith no longer exists within the reasons of the physical realm, and as such, is invulnerable to any mortal opposition—an existence that no one in the physical world alone can rival. His absolution is akin to that of a story's author; those partaking in his fable have no chance of ever challenging him. Fate and fortune are therefore on his side, which alongside his now overwhelming charisma and enormous Od, make his dominance in the physical realm inevitable. More glaringly astral is his telekinetic ability to manipulate gravity and space. He has manipulated repulsive force to repel physical attacks, as well as created gravity wells to catch enemies with an invisible attractive force capable of crushing the afflicted into oblivion. Most notable is his ability to warp and distort space, which he has used to easily grab a space-cleaving tear from the Sword of Actuation and redirect it entirely. Trivia *"Griffith" is an anglicized form of the Welsh name "Gruffudd"—a variation of the name is "Griffin", playing into Griffith's avian theme. *Griffith has many similarities with the historical figure , who was a famous English mercenary in the 14th century. Hawkwood served in the English army during the , just as Griffith did, and both men were later knighted for their service. Completing the resemblance even further is the fact that Hawkwood would later go on to found his own mercenary band, which in Italian translates to "Company of the White Falcon". *Griffith is the only human character to have defeated Guts in combat. *Dark Sun Gwyndolin from bears an uncanny resemblance to Griffith. He has an effeminate appearance and traits similar to the latter. *Griffith is the only character known to have silver hair. *Griffith's God Hand name "Femto" is a mathematical prefix for 1/1,000,000,000,000,000. That is one quadrillionth, or one millionth of one billionth of the measurement unit this prefix is used for (a Femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second, a Femtometer is one quadrilionth of a meter, etc). 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